EU energy chief tells Germany to keep options open on fracking

BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe could eventually get a tenth of its power needs via shale gas fracking, if it can overcome reservations such as those voiced in recommendations from two German cabinet ministers, the European Union's energy commissioner was quoted as saying.

Guenther Oettinger, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, told the BZ am Sonntag newspaper Germany should keep its options open when EU states such as Britain and Poland appear willing to exploit shale gas.

"I estimate that Europe has the potential to secure about a tenth of our needs this way in the long term," he told the paper, according to an excerpt from its Sunday edition, noting this would help Europe rely less on energy imports at a time of tension with Russia, a major source of gas.

Companies including ExxonMobil Corp and BASF SE's oil and gas arm Wintershall have pushed to explore possibilities for fracking in Germany.

The two German cabinet members responsible for preparing legislation on fracking due this year, Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel and Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, circulated proposed guidelines among members of parliament on Friday.

"Unconventional fracking won't be permitted," said Hendricks, who like Gabriel is from the Social Democrats, junior coalition partners of Merkel's conservatives. They are expected to present their thoughts to the cabinet in coming days.

Hendricks was contrasting the new shale gas fracking methods being used in the United States with conventional natural gas exploitation from deep deposits. The ministers propose preventing the fracking of deposits less than 3,000 metres below the surface via tougher laws protecting the quality of water.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves pumping water and chemicals at high pressure through drill holes to prise open rocks containing gas. Many Germans oppose it due to environmental worries, in particular fears about the possible contamination of drinking water.

But German industry, worried that competitiveness is being damaged by rising energy costs at home combined with lower prices in the United States due to the fast expansion of fracking there, has become ever keener to exploit shale gas reserves.